1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle operation diagnosis device, a vehicle operation diagnosis method, and a computer program that diagnose operation of a vehicle by a driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, systems have become known that diagnose whether a driver's operation of a vehicle while driving is appropriate or not in terms of safety, in order to improve the driver's safe driving skills and to encourage the driver's interest in safe driving. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2007-293626, a system is described that determines whether or not a user is performing safe driving, based on diagnosis judgment standards that are set for a plurality of diagnosis items, such as an inter-vehicular distance, a speed limit, a temporary stop, a deceleration before a curve, and the like. In a case where it is determined that the user is performing safe driving, the system assigns a point value. Note that processing is described whereby, in a case where the diagnosis is specifically performed with respect to the inter-vehicular distance, the user is judged to be performing safe driving if the relationship between the inter-vehicular distance and the vehicle speed is such that a fixed time interval is maintained between the user's own vehicle and a vehicle that is traveling ahead.
Furthermore, by referring to a result of the system's diagnosis, the driver can learn the characteristics of his own vehicle operation and what sorts of vehicle operation are appropriate under various circumstances. The driver can then perform safer and more appropriate vehicle operation by correcting the way he operates the brakes, the accelerator, the steering wheel, and the like based on what he has learned. The system can also give the driver motivation to continue driving safely.
Moreover, in recent years, inter-vehicular distance control systems have been proposed for automatically controlling the inter-vehicular distance between the user's own vehicle and a vehicle that is traveling ahead (for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-6-247245). These sorts of inter-vehicular distance control systems include, for example, a (conforming type) system that automatically performs acceleration and deceleration control of the user's own vehicle such that its speed conforms to the speed of the vehicle ahead, a (deceleration control type) system that performs deceleration control only in a case where the distance to the vehicle ahead is not greater than a specified distance and the speed of the user's own vehicle is greater than the speed of the vehicle ahead, and the like. The inter-vehicular distance control systems also include a system that, in a case where the inter-vehicular distance between the user's own vehicle and the vehicle ahead has become too short, maintains a fixed inter-vehicular distance by performing deceleration control of the user's own vehicle. However, even in cases where these inter-vehicular distance control systems are used, it is not possible to completely prevent contact between the user's own vehicle and the vehicle ahead, and there is a need to make the driver more aware of safety with respect to the inter-vehicular distance.